Athletic supporter



Aug. 17, 1954 F. E. BOYD 2,686,517

ATHLETIC SUPFORTER Filed March 13, 1953 IN VEN TOR. 'F'aeoemcm E. BOYDPatented Aug. 17, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ATHLETIC SUPP ORTERFrederick E. Boyd, Montgomery, Ala.

Application March 13, 1953, Serial No. 342,160

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to athletic supporters and more particularly toan athletic supporter having an access opening therein and a slidefastener secured thereto for closing the access opening.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an athleticsupporter which may be of substantially conventional constructionincluding a belt, a crotch piece depending from the belt and strapssecuring the end of the crotch piece remote from the belt to the belt atlocations spaced from the crotch piece, but which has an access openingin the form of a slit extending longitudinally of the crotch piece and aslide fastener secured to the crotch piece along the opposite sides ofthe slit to close the slit; which has a piece of webbing secured to theinner side of the crotch piece in covering relationship to the slittherein and to the slide fastener to protect the skin of a personwearing the supporter from the slide fastener when the slide fastener isopened or closed; and which is simple and durable in construction, andconvenient and comfortable to Wear.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a considerationof the following description and the appended claims in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an athletic supporterillustrative of the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on the line 2--2 ofFigure l; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the inner side of thecrotch piece of the supporter and a fragmentary portion of theassociated belt.

With continued reference to the drawing, the athletic supporter isformed of elastic, fabric material, such materials usually including amixture of cotton and rubber threads woven together, and includes awaist encircling belt Ill, a cupped crotch piece H secured at one end tothe belt H], as indicated at !2, symmetrically of the mid-lengthlocation of the front portion of the belt, and straps l3 and I4 securedto the crotch piece II at the end of the latter remote from the belt andsecured at their ends to the belt at locations substantially equallyspaced from the opposite sides of the end of the crotch piece secured tothe belt and near the opposite sides of the belt.

As athletic supporters of the character indicated are well known to theart and are readily available commercially, a more detailed illustrationand description of the supporter itself is 2 considered unnecessary forthe purposes of the present disclosure.

In accordance with the present invention, the crotch piece II of thesupporter is provided with an access opening in the form of a slit l5extending longitudinally of the crotch piece and medially of the widththereof from a location adjacent the edge of the belt II] from which thecrotch piece extends to a location near, but spaced from the end of thecrotch piece to which the straps l3 and [4 are connected. A slidefastener I6 is secured to the crotch piece along the opposite sides ofthe slit is by suitable means, such as stitching, and includes the usualinterlocking element ll secured to tapes which extend one along eachside of the slit l5 and are secured by stitching to the crotch piece, aslide l8 movable along the slide fastener to engage and disengage theelement I1, and a pull tab l9 pivotally secured to the slide is formoving the slide longitudinally of the slide fastener to open and closethe slide fastener. The slide fastener 16 may be of a form well known tothe art and readily available commercially and may be secured to thecrotch piece II of the athletic supporter in the usual manner.

A flap or cover 20 in the form of a piece of fabric or tape ofelongated, rectangular shape is disposed against the inner side of thecrotch piece H of the supporter and extends longitudinally of the slidefastener l6 somewhat beyond the respectively opposite ends of the slidefastener. The flap also extends outwardly of the respectively oppositesides of the slide fastener and is secured to the crotch piece It acrossboth ends and along one longitudinal edge of the flap by suitable means,such as the stitching 2|.

When the slide fastener I6 is opened, the slit l5 and the open side ofthe flap 20 provide an access opening through the crotch piece II of thesupporter, and the flap 2!] protects the wearer of the supporter fromthe slide fastener when the latter is closed.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention beingindicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embracedtherein.

What is claimed is:

1. In an athletic supporter including a belt, a crotch piece secured atone end to said belt and depending therefrom, and straps secured each atone end to said crotch piece at the end of the latter remote from saidbelt and secured at their other ends to said belt at locations spacedfrom said crotch piece and from each other, the improvement wherein saidcrotch piece is provided with a slit extending longitudinally thereof ata location medially of the width thereof, a slide fastener is secured tosaid crotch piece along the sides of said slit for closing the latter,and a piece of fabric of elongated rectangular shape is disposed againstthe inner side of said crotch piece in covering relationship to saidslit and said slide fastener and is secured to said crotch piece alongone side and across the ends of said piece of fabric.

2. An athletic supporter comprising a belt, a crotch piece secured atone end to said belt and having a slit extending longitudinally andmedially of the Width thereof, a slide fastener extending along saidslit and secured to said crotch piece along the opposite sides of saidslit, and a flap disposed at the inner side of said crotch piece incovering relationship to said slit and said slide fastener and securedto said crotch piece across each end thereof at locations spaced fromthe respectively opposite ends of said slide fastener and along one sideedge of said flap at a location spaced from the adjacent side of saidslide fastener.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 567,343 Harden Sept. 8, 1896 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 641 Austria Nov. 25, 1899 205,120 Germany Dec. 17, 1908

